procrit

So it appears anaerobic intervals at 600 watts until failure may be a recipe for tired legs. Who’d have guessed.

TMonk

man I nailed that VO2 max workout, which is great. First one of the new block. Always some mental/emotional investment in these given the effort level. A little spooky too if it's been a while.

I spent 20' with z5 heart rate as:
1 x 4'
1 x 3'
2 x 5'
1 x 3'

In the first ~half of the workout, I was quite impressed with my power; must be the fresh legs/low ATL. In the second half, my power:HR was about what I would have hoped for, and I think also what I expected I could do. This will give me some great psychology going into this final 3 week block of the season. Shooting for 60'/week in zone.

hubcyclist

i'm in a vo2 block myself, heading into my 3rd week, so I've got 4x5 on tues and thurs. first week did 6x3min and 7x3min, then 5x4min twice last week. Definitely hitting higher power than I did when I last did workouts in Feb, and last week hit a 4min PR of 355w, so whatever I've been doing has helped a little bit. And these were done inside where it's been warmer and humid (I dont have a basement AC). I also did 15.5hrs last week, all inside lol

I used to be capt trainerroad, but I recently dropped it completely after many years of being subbed. I had already moved away from doing their plans and was doing my own thing, but I've also stopped using erg mode (I really liked TR's powermatch since I use my assioma for the power reading), so I've been just using zwift. Some workouts can still be a pain with my 8 speed setup but I'm a lot better at dialing in power than I used to be. I've also got 105 components and sensah team shifters to upgrade to 11 speed, i'm not in a major rush

TMonk

Nice, VO2's in a 15.5 hour week is a lot of TSS!

I've never tried trainerroad. Also I hate ERG mode for sure, I think my power trails during steady-state efforts might be more spike-y than ideal. Or something? IDK. When I train intervals indoors, I do it in Zwift in "free ride" mode, just like one would outside. I find segments that are about the right length and then send it at the start. Again, just like one would outside.

Hermes

I have been doing a lot of training but not much posting. I was in Mallorca Spain for 15 nights and rode every day - both flat routes and climbing. I came back and did a two back to back weeks of structured track training at Velo Sports Center indoor track in Carson, CA. I had been working off of a more flexible schedule with my coach. Now, I have a detailed plan for each week leading up to my A event in September.

TMonk

Two weeks in Mallorca Spain sounds amazing. Hope you enjoyed it Hermes ,

My VO2's this morning were harder.... Legs not as fresh and I burned through the AWC a bit more quickly. The last two intervals were not complete failures, but a bit sorry haha. That's OK! I still spent 18.5 minutes in zone, and feel happy with a second hard VO2 workout in the bag already this week.

Enthalpic

If doing a VO2 block some creatine may help. Going deep anaerobic is powerful stimulus for the aerobic system.

Enthalpic

You are living life well. I admire your bank account that allows so many skiing and cycling trips with coaching.

Kudos!

hubcyclist

did 4x5min vo2 this morning, set an all time best 5min (345 nothing to write home about), but compared to the same workout I did in Feb, my power is up 10w. Thursday will be the last for the block, already looking forward to moving on lol

Hermes

This was our 4th trip to Mallorca with the first one in 2008 as part of an organized tour. All the others, we planned. Mallorca is somewhat of a complicated cycling destination even though, it is considered by some, including us, to be cycling Mecca. During our stay, the weather was perfect even though, many days, it raining in the late afternoons. We cycled every day in the mornings and the temperature was cool without much wind.

We stay at Club Son Atem which is located near Llucmajor that has flatter terrain versus staying in the mountains such as Soller. We drove to the climbs and rolled out of our villa for other rides. We had a great climb located nearby that we did a couple of times.

Another couple joined us for part of the trip and we cycled together. It was a blast. When the end of the stay was approaching, we considered extending the stay but had commitments and changing airline tickets complicated and annoying. We plan to go back next year.

procrit

Deload week two weeks ago, and this past week has shown some real improvement to both endurance and power. I buried myself July 4th with a record for mileage and kJ for 2023, July 6th I held ~300 watts for a 45 min TT without struggling, and today I broke the Garmin stamina model on an endurance ride and my legs feel like I could go back out and repeat the ride! Best week I've had in a LONG time.

hubcyclist

finished my block, did 2 vo2 workouts per week. I was down at my parents and did my Thurs 4x5 vo2 outside. It's a great area to ride but fairly flat, but found one of the few slightly uphill segments and was able to do them pretty well, albeit so flatter sections made my power go down, but all in all good efforts. I got a couple of 4ish hour rides in as well, got about 16hrs this week.

kinda on the fence for next block, if I race CX I want to do an anaerobic block ahead of it, not sure if make it the immediate next block is too soon or if I should defer it to August and work threshold next after having done some vo2 work. I've got a whole week to figure it out!

TMonk

another Monday, another VO2 set. I performed adequately. More tomorrow.

Towards the end of the week, I plan on skipping my third VO2 workout to do a local practice race series. The course is a simple rectangle that has a fairly steep hill. Suits me well. I will attack early, and often (if needed).

TMonk

news flash: VO2 max intervals make you tired. Not sure if y'all knew that or not.

TMonk

Got through another M/T back-to-back VO2 max day, like last week. Also, like last week, I suffered significantly more in the second half of my interval set on day 2. Power:RPE way down. Still though, as long as my HR is jacked and aerobic system is taxed, I think I'm getting the intended benefit. No AWC left.

After speaking with my coach earlier, he made it seem like power is almost secondary in these intervals. Like start hard to get the HR up, then get low and spin at a high RPM to just max out your aerobic and hold whatever power you can for the 3-5 minutes.

I'm not doing continuous coaching - it was just some early consultation and planning. But, I'm wondering if it may be worth it to have a season debrief. His instruction for me had me in great shape for the height of my season, three wins, two thirds, and fourth and a fifth in Master's 35+. The general plan was base through Valley of the Sun in Feb, then straight to VO2 work. No threshold/SST stuff.

TMonk

2nd week complete of 60' of VO2 work, between three workouts. Todays was hard at the end (naturally), but I just had gobs and gobs of power in the first half. HR didn't even get into zone until the last two intervals. Body was lean on the scale this morning too, good times.

Tomorrow: 6 hrs of z2. Gonna be warm out, and we have a birthday party to attend in the afternoon, so I'll start early. Focus on hydration today.

TMonk

Bailed on my VO2s this morning, about half way through. HR wasn't coming up during the first two intervals, and it's not because I felt good, quite the opposite actually. I think I had mild heat exhaustion after my long z2 ride this weekend, and maybe was also a bit behind on calories. That's OK, one failed VO2 workout this block isn't too bad.

Also - someone else post something for once!

hubcyclist

did the rare Monday workout, I didn't ride yesterday and coming off a lower volume easier week. Decided to see what I could do as far as TTE, even though it's a dumb idea in an 80 degree basement. Did manage almost 35mins at 305, so for all intents and purposes that's my ftp now and will work on that TTE. It's pretty fun that I've been getting some growth even at my age, my ftp is up 10w since the fall and was pretty steady for a long while before that

Hermes

I continue following my training plan. Heading to the track for another week of track specific training that is all high power intervals. I am working with a nutritionist who works with professional athletes. So I have a set of nutrition, weight and body composition goals to overlay over the training. Fun stuff.

TMonk

Gonna do some track racing tonite, instead of more VO2s lol. I find that I have been avoiding track racing this year for several reasons, the races aren't long or hard (read: hilly!) enough and I just get smoked in the sprints. At 145 lbs i can hit 1200 and carry 1000 w for a while, but I still get steamrolled by larger, more powerful riders. When I'm fit and in good form, I can thin the field and force some selections in longer endurance races, which is fun.

The main reason is that it keeps me up past my bedtime! Sometimes the racing can end at 15 or 20 after 9 PM. I'm usually showering and/or stretching at that time and near bed. Instead, I have to eat dinner as quickly as reasonable afterward, and then get home and clean up. I'm a morning person and it throws me out of whack.

If only they did it an hour earlier...

EDIT: skipped track. I think it was the right call. It would have been a bit too much overall energy expenditure. I'm sort of done training after this week, so I'll be doing things by feel and focusing on having fun. Instead I did a 22.5 km Zwift race (won), then 15 minutes attacking the A pace bot group after a brief rest

Hermes

SDV this AM. 4 kilos. Whew.

Edit: Looking over the data, I was close to my VSC lap time speed at SDV - very encouraging.

TMonk

wow, you must have made huge improvements to your power and/or position Hermes. I've never ridden VSC, or any other wooden indoor track, but I imagine the speed is a notch or two up from a concrete outdoor 333m track.

this morning I completed my final VO2 max interval set of 2023. I was feeling a bit tentative going into it, given my failure mode last time. But, they went well! Long ride tomorrow, then it's unstructured for a while. Gotta start early (6 AM) due to the heat.

procrit

Tell me about your heat index in San Diego LOL... That said, I'm about to be in Asheville for 5 days and spent this past week in Washington, it was amazing.

Hermes

TMonk You would have a blast at VSC. And you would really have a blast with our training group.

TMonk

Yeah you have to drive inland for 30-60 minutes here to get those kind of temps. Personally, I start to struggle to keep my HRower in check once it gets into the high 80's (lol). I know I know - I'm soft